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Revolving Fund
Since 1972, GHF has operated our Revolving Fund to purchase endangered buildings and sell them (with protective covenants) to preservation-minded individuals. First concentrating on vacant buildings along the Strand business district, GHF began using the fund to purchase historic houses in 1983.
Concentrated efforts in several neighborhoods have dramatically improved the area and encouraged other homeowners to do the same with their properties. With Operation Church Street, GHF concentrated on the 1400 and 1500 Blocks of Church Street in the East End Historic District. GHF has worked for many years to preserve the historic character of the East End Historic District, from moving a house to the vacant lot at 1402 Church to buying a house at 1511 Church that many would have considered beyond repair. We now hold protective covenants on eight properties in this two block area.
Working south of Broadway, Project Avenue M includes two twin Queen Anne style houses that were moved to vacant lots during the summer of 2004. They were located on lots that were to be used in the development of a new hotel along Seawall Boulevard. The owners donated the houses to GHF, under the condition that they be moved to a new site.
In 2002, the GHF Revolving Fund got a boost with a large grant from the Houston Endowment, as well as the donation of several pieces of property. Today, we typically are able to buy, stabilize, and sell two or three properties each year. Most of these properties would have been demolished or would continue to deteriorate without GHF's intervention. The fund focuses on properties that may have situations too intimidating for most buyers. By not investing a large amount into a total rehabilitation, GHF is able to save more properties, while allowing maximum flexibility for the new buyer’s designs.
When GHF rehabilitates a property we sell them with a protective covenant that allows us to monitor any changes made to the property. Since beginning the Revolving Fund, GHF currently holds protective covenants on approximately 35 commercial structures, 40 residences, and one oak tree in Galveston. Contrary to popular local belief, GHF only has the right to review and control the changes to the exterior of these properties, and not all buildings inside historic districts. We have a full listing of these properties on Covenant Monitoring section of our website.
Following Hurricane Ike in September 2008 GHF received an emergency grant from the 1772 Foundation in order to help save buildings donated to the Foundation following the storm. We used this increased funding to pay for moving four properties, that would otherwise be demolished, to new locations. One of the properties we moved has become the Green Revival show house that we use to educate the public on how to rehabilitate a historic house to be environmentally friendly while at the same time respecting and maintaining its architectural character.
GHF volunteer Tom Green, PhD has completed a project where he links the Google Earth program with the locations and pictures of past GHF Revolving Fund sites. He also has a number of other programs related to Galveston historic subjects on his site. You will need to have Google Earth installed on your computer, it can be downloaded here.
Current Properties - For Sale
Past Projects
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